St. John UMC Revelations
Volume XX Issue VIII August 2024
Living on Borrowed Time
Years ago, when I was leading a Bible study group at my first church, I had a church member who told us all an interesting story. The story goes like this. There was a man who died, and friends and family gathered around to pay their last respects at the funeral home. One of his friends said to another, “if only he had had a little more time, he might have gotten to know Jesus.” To that the other responded, “How much more time did he need? He had forty-three years.”
If you think about it, we all live on borrowed time. The life that God has given us is a gift. The second gift that He gives us is the gift of eternal life through His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Therefore, the decision we make about the gift of His Son in this life determines where we will spend eternity.
None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. I have heard many people say that they hope they are never on a plane somewhere when God decides to call the pilot home. I have heard others say that they will get their lives straight with God when they get around to it. But what if today is the last day for that person?
The Bible tells us of one of Jesus’s parables where a man put off the matter of salvation as he got concerned with material things (Luke 12:16-21). He had more of a harvest than he had room to store it. So, he thought that he would tear down the old barns and build larger ones to store all of his grains and goods. And then he said, “I will say to my soul, `Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, `Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:19-21 RSV). Here was a man who never thought beyond himself. When we read a story such as this, we cannot help but to think that none of us are guaranteed tomorrow. Hebrews 9:27 says, “People are destined to die once and then face judgment” (CEB).
No one knows what the future holds. But do we know who holds the future? Nobody can determine when his/her time on earth will be up. But we can determine where we will spend eternity by the decision, we make to pick up our crosses and follow in the footsteps of Jesus as His disciples. Christ does not want just our devotion; He also wants us to share the good news about Him with others.
There is the story of a foreigner who came to the U.S. to study Christianity. Everywhere he went people would talk to him about almost anything. But, when it came to asking about Christ most people that he encountered were reluctant to talk much about it. The foreigner was puzzled because he had always heard about America being a Christian nation. He thought to himself if that was the case then how come citizens of this country were reluctant to talk about Christ?
We may not be wealthy like the man in the parable mentioned above but sometimes we are guilty of being Christian on our own terms and convenience. And when we do that, we too, become guilty of not thinking beyond ourselves. Being a Christian means that we are to serve others and love others as Jesus served and loved and loves us. For that is the way that others will know that we are His disciples (John 13:34 -35).
Rev. John M. Williams, III